You are right about Como. It is so beautiful as to have occasionally moved me to tears, and seems very far away from the rest of the world, living on its own time. Ideally, it is best to stay overnight (I prefer going for a week), but if you stay in Milan, you can take the first train there and the last boat and train back and spend a full day there that way, as the lake is only an hour away from Milan.
In Western Europe, the only two countries you are *not* OK with English are France and Spain. The French linguistic arrogance is legendary; in Spain, few people speak English, signs and pointers are rare, and locals largely ignore tourists, though both countries are beautiful. Otherwise, most Northern Europeans are fluent English speakers; the Portuguese (my second favourite European destination) and Greeks are very much used to English tourists, as are the Italians, and the Italians in particular are actually likely to volunteer to help if they see you as a tourist looking obviously lost. The only well-known risks to look out for are pickpockets on crowded Roman bus routes and crooks of various descriptions in Naples, notably cab drivers (also an occasional, though rare, problem in Rome - you just have to watch the meter) - and the scooters zooming around the bigger cities at crazy speeds, though they'll brake for pedestrians. And of course the f***ing transport strikes, which are now passing from a monthly to a bi-weekly event. But other than that, it really is an easy and pleasant place to travel around, especially the regions north or Rome.
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In Western Europe, the only two countries you are *not* OK with English are France and Spain. The French linguistic arrogance is legendary; in Spain, few people speak English, signs and pointers are rare, and locals largely ignore tourists, though both countries are beautiful. Otherwise, most Northern Europeans are fluent English speakers; the Portuguese (my second favourite European destination) and Greeks are very much used to English tourists, as are the Italians, and the Italians in particular are actually likely to volunteer to help if they see you as a tourist looking obviously lost. The only well-known risks to look out for are pickpockets on crowded Roman bus routes and crooks of various descriptions in Naples, notably cab drivers (also an occasional, though rare, problem in Rome - you just have to watch the meter) - and the scooters zooming around the bigger cities at crazy speeds, though they'll brake for pedestrians. And of course the f***ing transport strikes, which are now passing from a monthly to a bi-weekly event. But other than that, it really is an easy and pleasant place to travel around, especially the regions north or Rome.